Chapter 234: A Night of Riots and the New Daimyo
Land of Lightning, The Capital.
Numerous buildings within the city were ablaze. People ran through the streets, some crying for help, some fighting the fires, some fleeing for their lives, and others taking advantage of the chaos to loot.
In an inconspicuous small courtyard, Jun'en Furuya watched Prince Yukihiro pace anxiously around the room, disappointment evident in his eyes.
"Yukihiro... why don't you sit down and wait for news?"
Even now, Furuya hadn't changed how he addressed his son. After all, the name "Yukihiro" was chosen by Furuya himself.
Because the Daimyo had so many children, he had stopped paying much attention to them early on. Naming them wasn't something he took seriously.
Not knowing what to name the child, the Daimyo had casually asked Furuya. The young Furuya had offered his suggestion.
From that moment on, Furuya knew Yukihiro was his own flesh and blood. Back then, Furuya had felt only fear, not the ambition he possessed now. It wasn't until Yukihiro was over thirty and had become the laughingstock of the capital that Furuya finally revealed the truth to him and acknowledged their relationship.
However, Prince Yukihiro clearly wasn't the type to listen to advice, even from his biological father. He continued to pace irritably around the room, muttering to himself.
"Father... will this really go smoothly? Shouldn't we kill someone? What about Takayoshi? Is he not a threat to us?"
Furuya spoke in a low, steady voice. "Tonight, whoever makes a move loses. We already have the secret support of most of the retainers and nobles. We only need to wait until dawn, then emerge to collect the dead and arrest the masterminds behind this chaos."
Yet Yukihiro remained restless. He desperately wanted to do something to alleviate his panic, but Furuya rejected every idea he had, making him even more agitated.
"Are we safe here?" Yukihiro asked, unwilling to let it go.
Furuya sighed. "We specifically chose this small courtyard that has no apparent connection to us just for safety. Furthermore, we hired a renowned mercenary ninja from the underground world."
Just as he spoke, the door was pushed open by a tall figure, startling Yukihiro.
The newcomer tossed a cloth bag onto the floor. It rolled, spilling out a few flatbreads.
"Breakfast."
Yukihiro looked at the dry, white flour cakes in the bag and exploded in anger. "You bastard! You're feeding us this? Not even a sip of water?!"
The man replied coldly, "At least I brought this myself. I can confirm it's poison-free."
"Are steamed buns the only thing that's poison-free?!"
The man's expression didn't change. "Anything else costs extra."
Furuya quickly interrupted the raging Yukihiro. "Mister Kakuzu, what is the situation outside?"
Kakuzu was willing to answer questions related to the mission that didn't incur extra costs—provided the person asking didn't have a bounty on their head.
"There are still sporadic battles in the city. most of the fires have been put out. I don't know the exact death toll."
Furuya nodded. "Thank you for your hard work."
Kakuzu nodded back. "I will leave after dawn. Don't forget the final payment."
Yukihiro snapped, "You charged us five million ryo! And you're leaving in such a hurry?"
Furuya thought the mercenary named Kakuzu would get angry, but the man simply replied calmly, "Of course. The mission was to keep you alive for one night. I have another job in the Land of Grass. If you want me to stay longer... that costs extra."
Yukihiro was speechless.
Furuya pulled Yukihiro back and said respectfully, "Kakuzu-dono is powerful. I wonder if there will be opportunities for cooperation in the future."
Even with his average discernment, Furuya could tell this mercenary was strong. In the first half of the night, several people tried to sneak in during the chaos, but they were eliminated before they could even scream. moreover, judging from the interaction just now, the man had a surprisingly good temper.
Kakuzu replied, "Of course there are opportunities. As long as you have money. You know how to contact me. But my schedule is tight, so book in advance."
After dawn, Furuya paid for an extra hour of Kakuzu's time. Afterward, Kakuzu left the courtyard precisely on the dot.
On his way out, he even picked up the uneaten buns the two men had left behind. Who knows what he planned to do with them?
Upon returning to his estate, Furuya immediately summoned Takero Osawa, the leader of the samurai he had already bought over. Under the pretext of quelling the riots and capturing criminals, they swept through the city, collecting corpses, seizing assets, and arresting "culprits."
The riots had just ended, and the entire capital was still in shock. No one knew how many people had died in the nightly violence versus how many were framed and killed after daybreak. Screams could be heard intermittently until noon. By the time the capital truly settled down, many noble families had been wiped from the city's registry.
Acting as the head of the retainers, Furuya immediately issued a condemnation of the lawless elements from the previous night. Then, he released a slew of wanted posters—some real, some fake.
Living or dead, these scapegoats bore the blame for the night of chaos.
Whether the charges were true or false, those people likely had no way to defend themselves.
Two days later, the news of the new Daimyo's ascension finally spread.
"Raihara Yukihiro? Who is that?"
The Third Raikage was quite puzzled. The Daimyo had many children, and the Raikage kept tabs on the prominent ones, but he had absolutely zero impression of this "Prince Yukihiro."
Dana was also confused. He explained, "He's one of the Daimyo's sons, notorious for his bad reputation. I met him once. He was very... unimpressive."
Recalling the guy who couldn't keep his hands to himself during dinner, constantly groping the dancers, Dana was surprised too.
The Third Raikage clicked his tongue in wonder. In a short time, he deduced several key points. "The capital is truly messy. Is this Furuya refusing to give up power, so he deliberately pushed a puppet onto the throne?"
Dana rubbed his chin, hesitating. "That's possible. And it might not just be Furuya's idea. perhaps many nobles want a puppet Daimyo?"
"A puppet isn't a bad thing," the Third Raikage noted.
For the effectively autonomous Cloud Village, a puppet was better than a fool who thought he was a brilliant ruler.
But Dana felt something was off. From what he knew, the Yukihiro he met briefly didn't seem like the best candidate for a puppet. The Daimyo had younger sons. Yukihiro had a terrible reputation and was quite... debauched?
Back in the capital, Yukihiro had tried to win Dana over with so-called "insider information," which Dana had ignored. Thinking back, maybe there was some connection he had missed.
"I'll write a letter," the Third Raikage said. "Logically and etiquette-wise, we should inquire about this."